Ryan gently lifted Evelyn's hand, guiding her fingertips to press on the remaining fabric between her legs that had not yet been cut.

  This would prevent any accidental exposure when he pulled the scraps away.

  Seeing this careful gesture, Evelyn felt a flicker of surprise in her heart.

  So he was not as shameless and crude as he appeared on the surface. At least he understood the need to preserve her dignity.

  Once he ensured the fabric was securely pressed down, Ryan grasped the remaining scraps of skirt on her legs and gave a gentle tug. The blood-stained remnants were completely removed.

  But the moment the scraps came off, Ryan froze in place. His eyes went wide, pupils constricting, and his gaze locked straight on Evelyn, forgetting even to breathe.

  He slowly raised his head, his expression full of shock, his voice stammering incoherently, unable to form a single complete sentence.

  Evelyn pressed her lips tightly together, her cheeks burning so red they seemed to drip. She turned her head in shame, avoiding Ryan's unwavering gaze, fully aware of why he looked like that.

  "These Shadow Silk Stockings! Didn't you say you threw them away!?" Ryan's voice suddenly shot up, full of disbelief and shock.

  At this moment, Evelyn's legs were clad in a pair of delicate, smooth silk stockings, the very ones he had helped her put on in the Misty Forest.

  "I threw them into my spiritual domain space, isn't that fine?" Evelyn's cheeks burned even hotter under Ryan's questioning. She could only clumsily offer an excuse, her flustered tone betraying her entirely.

  The excuse was as poor as something meant to pacify a child. How could Ryan possibly believe it?

  "Your‘thrown away' is just you carefully storing them in your spiritual space?" He raised an eyebrow, his tone teasing.

  Evelyn was rendered speechless, clamping her lips shut. She was never good at lying. Compared to Ryan's fluent reasoning, she usually spoke honestly. At this moment, she could not think of a more reasonable excuse to counter him.

  Ryan had never imagined she would wear the Shadow Silk Stockings he had given her. This sudden sight was an unexpected delight.

  After the initial shock, an uncontrollable wave of excitement surged through him. Did this mean she actually liked the gift he had given her?

  Secretly, Ryan made a small victory gesture in his mind. He stored the scissors in his storage pouch and stood up, stretching broadly.

  This was his little ritual after finishing the cutting, loosening his stiff body from sitting too long.

  But when he stood and looked down, the scene before him was completely different from when he had been crouched, only seeing her legs.

  Evelyn's undergarments paired with the silk stockings exuded a cool elegance tinged with an inexplicable allure. That unique charm struck Ryan's heart instantly.

  The sudden stimulation caused his blood to rush to his head. Without warning, two streams of bright red blood spurted from his nostrils, dripping onto the ground in front of Evelyn.

  Ryan quickly covered his nose with his hand, then turned and hurried to the wooden tub, scooping up cold water to splash his face forcefully.

  Evelyn's appearance and aura were exactly his type!

  Watching Ryan's sudden mishap, Evelyn froze for a few seconds, then quickly realized what had happened. Her cheeks flared even hotter.

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  She hastily turned her head, eyes darting away, unable to look at Ryan's back, her heart pounding wildly.

  After washing his nose, Ryan gradually calmed the heat in his chest and cleared his mind, then slowly turned around.

  Evelyn was looking up at him with her delicate eyes, her pale cheeks and flushed ears still glowing red.

  "Hurry up," she urged, unable to hold back. Standing frozen as he was, staring straight at her, made her feel completely uneasy.

  "All right!" Ryan's voice still carried a hint of lingering excitement.

  Seeing him like this made Evelyn's heart skip a beat. A sudden wave of panic rose in her chest. Could he be planning to take advantage of the situation?

  Ryan, oblivious to her thoughts, squatted down again, his gaze landing on the silk stockings covering her legs.

  "Come on, hurry!" Evelyn urged again, her heart racing faster. She could clearly feel the warmth of Ryan beside her, and a flush of shame and helplessness rose at the thought that his right hand would inevitably touch her.

  【Task Triggered: Remove Evelyn's Shadow Silk Stockings】

  【Task Reward: White Lace-Edged Stockings】

  The moment Ryan's hand touched Evelyn's legs, a sudden alert rang in his mind, freezing his movements.

  Grimoire chose the worst possible time to pop up, leaving him completely baffled, forgetting what he was doing for a moment.

  Feeling Ryan's sudden pause, Evelyn became anxious and shouted again,"Hurry up! I can't take this anymore!"

  Snapping back to reality, Ryan ignored the Grimoire and focused, gently grasping the silk stockings on Evelyn's legs and slowly pulling downward.

  But when the stockings reached her knees, a crisp tearing sound suddenly rang out. The once incredibly sturdy silk stockings split open in a large gash!

  Not only had they torn, but the sound was unusually loud, piercing the quiet of the magic array, almost as if Ryan had deliberately ripped them.

  Ryan stared dumbfounded at the partially removed, now-split stockings in his hands.

  He was certain that even ordinary fabric would have been hard to tear with the amount of force he used. There was no way he could have damaged these specially made silk stockings!

  Evelyn immediately saw the tear on her legs. Her heart clenched, her cheeks burned even deeper, but when she tried to speak, she didn't know what to say.

  Should she scold him for being careless or blame the stockings for being fragile? She was momentarily speechless.

  "I really didn't do it on purpose!" Ryan hurriedly explained, unable to find better words. He figured he would just replace them later with an even better pair.

  "These ones are no good," Ryan said to Evelyn, looking up first. Seeing her quietly nod, still flushed, he resumed his task.

  Since they were already torn, there was no need to be gentle anymore.

  Ryan used brute force, ripping the remaining stockings apart. With several crisp snaps, the once-perfect stockings were shredded into pieces, which he casually tossed aside.

  Using force inevitably meant his fingers brushed against Evelyn's smooth calf muscles. He silently justified it in his mind, trying to ignore the soft sensation beneath his fingertips.

  Evelyn shivered at the touch, embarrassed and angry. She instinctively tried to kick him, but her body was too weak. When she barely lifted a leg, Ryan's right hand firmly pressed it back down.

  "Don't move!" Ryan's actions didn't stop. Within a few moments, he had torn the stockings off her other leg as well.

  Watching the stockings shredded to pieces and the delicate skin revealed, Ryan quickly looked away, not daring to glance again.

  He bent down and picked up the fragments of the silk stockings from the ground, storing them all in his storage space.

  "Give them back!" Evelyn shouted urgently, spotting that he had collected the torn stockings.

  Even though they were ruined, they were still her intimate garments. How could he just take them like that?

  "They're already torn like this. Keeping them is useless. I'll throw them far away later," Ryan said firmly.

  They exchanged a few more words, but in the end, Evelyn could not win against him. She reluctantly closed her eyes, her long eyelashes trembling with embarrassment and anger.

  She now wished she could gather the last of her mana to slap this bastard.

  【Shadow Silk Stockings Removed!】

  【Task Reward: A Pair of White Lace-Edged Stockings】

  As the notification sounded, a pair of white lace-edged stockings instantly appeared in Ryan's storage space.

  "Grimoire, you really are twisted, but well, I like it," Ryan muttered silently, a sly grin creeping onto his lips.

  The reward came just in time, perfectly able to make up for Evelyn.

  Evelyn had either completely given up resisting or just wanted to end this humiliating process quickly.

  Whenever the warm water touched her wounds, she could not help but let out a muffled groan.

  Then came several muffled scoldings filled with embarrassment, either telling him to be gentle or not to touch inappropriately.

  Occasionally, Evelyn's flustered rebukes rang out, mixed with Ryan's awkward explanations and the occasional low chuckle he couldn't suppress, breaking the forest's silence.

  "Is it here?" he asked cautiously, holding the wet towel.

  Ryan's eyes were covered by a strip of black cloth, clearly placed by Evelyn to prevent him from accidentally seeing what he shouldn't.

  "A little to the left," Evelyn replied, her cheeks still burning red.

  "Is it here?" Ryan adjusted the towel as instructed, double-checking.

  "Yes, it's here," Evelyn whispered, her voice barely audible.